Caucus News

For 140 days every two years, Members of the Texas House and Senate put their lives on hold and head to Austin to serve at the State Capitol for a regular legislative session. The pace can be grueling and the work days often long. The hard work that goes along with session is not new to Representative Brooks Landgraf. His family has been in the ranching business in West Texas for five generations, which is what shaped his conservative principles. It inspired his belief in self-reliance, hard work, and the importance of getting things done, while not relying on anyone else to complete your work for you.

(Austin, Texas) Republicans in the Texas House delivered one conservative victory after another in the 84th Legislature by cutting taxes, making the border region safer, improving education, funding transportation, protecting life and defending Second Amendment rights.

(Austin, Texas) This week, Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives passed three crucial pieces of pro-life legislation before the deadline to hear bills on Second Reading on the House floor. House Bill 3994, House Bill 3374, and House Bill 3074 all passed with strong support from Republican House Members.

(Austin, Texas) This Wednesday, the Senate Transportation Committee will take up House Bill 20, filed by Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton), and voted out of the House on May 1, 2015 with almost unanimous support. HB 20 seeks to provide a framework to ensure that funds for transportation are administered in an objective and transparent manner with accountability for every dollar spent.

(Austin, Texas) Today, the Texas House of Representatives voted to pass a monumental $4.9 billion tax cut package in the form of two separate bills that were both unanimously supported by the Texas House Republican Caucus Members. House Bill 31 reduces the sales tax rate from 6.25 percent to 5.95 percent, creating the first ever state sales tax reduction in Texas history. House Bill 32 addresses burdensome business taxes by providing a 25 percent across the board franchise tax cut.

As conservative leaders in the Texas House, we write to you today to present to you why we support the House tax cut package authored by Rep. Dennis Bonnen, and why we think it is the most powerful plan for tax relief.

(Austin, Texas) Today, the Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 1 and took an important step to finalizing a budget that will be balanced and fiscally responsible. The Texas House Republican Caucus has encouraged all of our Members to hold fast to the principles of limited government and budget discipline, and they have met that challenge by passing HB 1.

(Austin, Texas) Today, the House of Representatives passed House Bill 11, a bill aimed at creating a comprehensive long term solution to Texas’s border security problems. Specifically, HB 11 authorizes an additional 300 DPS troopers for border security operations, criminalizes the act of inducing a person to enter the country illegally, strengthens state smuggling laws to effectively target the organized criminal element infiltrating our border, along with other reforms. The legislation also protects local control by creating the “Texas Transnational Crime Intelligence Center", which would be staffed by local police and sheriffs to serve as a real-time, around-the-clock intelligence hub for state and local law enforcement agencies.

(Austin, Texas) Today, the House of Representatives passed HB 10, a bill aimed at curbing, catching and stopping the criminals committing the crime of human trafficking in the state of Texas. Specifically, HB 10, would among other things, create a Child Sex Trafficking Prevention Unit, require the Texas Education Agency to report trafficking of a child, and make it easier for victims of trafficking to seek compensation from the Crime Auxiliary Fund.

AUSTIN, TX –Today, Texas House Republican Caucus members (THRC), Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van), Chair of the House Pensions Committee, joined by Rep. John Otto (R- Dayton), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, outlined a plan to return to solvency the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS).